Transformative learning in engineering education: the comfort zone factor

Abstract

A qualitative study was conducted on transformative learning in engineering education by the authors of this article and its results published earlier [1]. In that study, four outcomes that resulted from transformative learning and three factors that enabled these outcomes were identified. The outcomes were: 1) improved people and relational skills; 2) project management ability becoming second nature; 3) changes in ways of thinking; and 4) increased resilience. The factors that enabled these outcomes were: 1) the need to break out of comfort zones; 2) the need to have crucial learning experiences experiential in nature; and 3) staying motivated throughout the entire process [1]. The present article, by the same authors, focusses on one of these factors that is the need to break out of comfort zones. It expands on the earlier discussion and considers how to facilitate this factor to bring about transformative learning in an engineering education context. The current discussion is based on the data that emerged from the qualitative study. The comfort zone factor was not previously elaborated on